Wire handling facilitator

ABSTRACT

A wire handling facilitator in the form of a backpack. An apparatus that is useful for handling small rolls of wire that is to be welded into channels of metal surfaces.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention deals with an apparatus that is useful for handling smallsegments of wire that is to be welded. Coiled wire is commerciallypacked, shipped and stored in a coiled configuration, most of the timeusing a storage container. However, this packed commercial wire isusually packed in large quantities, that is, many hundreds of feet whichcannot be carried by any workman.

There exists equipment that is useful for handling large quantities ofstored wire when used in a welding apparatus. Such equipment can befound in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/931,007, filed Jan. 21,2011 in the name of Thomas W. Burns, the inventor in this patentapplication.

What is disclosed and claimed herein is a small device that allows oneto carry a small quantity of wire along with the equipment to feed thewire into a welding apparatus.

In use for welding, where the wire is fed to a welding gun, the wireenters the gun through the rear of the gun and is subjected toelectrical energy wherein it melts and is placed into channels in themetal to be welded to form a weld bead.

Even with small quantities of wire, if not controlled, the wire, uponleaving the tip of the welding gun, and before it is melted, typicallybends in any given direction and does not lay into the channel to formthe bead. Thus, one is forced to use very short segments of wire (whichdo not retain the cast of the coiled wire), or the wire is short enoughthat it can be hand bent to get rid of the wire cast and provide astraight piece of wire.

Even in longer segments, the wire, if not controlled, tends to re-coil,that is, attempts to resume its original cast, or bends out of linearityand causes disruptions in the equipment, which causes a disruption ofthe welding process and a possible shutdown of the equipment for repair.It also provides snarled and bent wire which is useless for re-use andis costly to replace.

THE INVENTION

Thus, what is disclosed and claimed herein is a wire handlingfacilitator in the form of a backpack. The wire handling facilitatorcomprises a housing having a front, a back, and a central wrap aroundside wall joining the back. The front is a hinged door.

Located and supported within the housing is a spool. The spool has acentered first axle having a distal end and a near end. The first axleis supported at the distal end by attachment to an inside back wallsurface. The near end has detachedly attached to it, a spool retainer.

There is an alignment wheel mounted on a second axle, wherein a distalend of the second axle is fixedly attached to the inside back wallsurface.

There is a brake pedal having a near end and a distal end wherein thenear end has a first opening in it. The brake pedal is mounted on thesecond axle through the first opening, there being a second opening nearthe near end of the brake pedal.

The second opening has a near end of a tension spring detachedlyattached to it, wherein the opposite end of the tension spring isdetachedly attached to the wire handling facilitator housing nearby.

The alignment wheel is aligned to receive a wire from the spool in anouter groove of the alignment wheel. There is a wire drive puller anddriver (drive rollers, drive wheels). The wire drive puller and driveris comprised of a housing having a front wall and a back wall.

There is a first opening in the front wall and a second opening in theback wall, each of the first opening and the second opening has a guidebushing inserted in it.

There is a set of two drive rollers each having a centered axle, and anoutside circumference, the set of drive rollers being vertically alignedwith the alignment wheel and the drive rollers are vertically alignedwith each other. The drive rollers are in close proximity to each otherat the respective outside circumferences. There is a means ofcontrolling the drive roller tensions.

There is a set of two idler rollers each having a centered axle and anoutside circumference wherein the set of idler rollers is aligned withthe alignment wheel and vertically aligned with each other. The idlerrollers are in close proximity to each other at the outsidecircumferences.

There is a means of controlling the speed of rotation of the driverollers along with a drive motor attached to the drive rollers forpowering and driving the drive rollers.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a full side view of a device of this invention.

FIG. 2 is a full back view of a device of this invention.

FIG. 3 is a full front view of a device of this invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Turning now to FIG. 1, which is a full side view of a device 1 of thisinvention, there is shown a housing 2 which is comprised of a front 3, aback 4, and a central wrap around side wall 5 joining the back 4. Thefront 3 is comprised of a hinged door held in place and moveable foropening by hinges 6. The number of hinges 6 is not critical, as long asthey will hold the door in place and allow opening of the door withoutinterference. The number of hinges 6 in FIG. 1 is shown as three. Theshape of the housing 2 is also not critical.

The back 4 of the housing 2 is configured essentially according to theconfiguration of the front 3. The housing 2 is held together byattachment to the wrap around side wall 5 which is shown in FIG. 2.

There is a spool 7 that is supported on the back wall 4 by an axleassembly 8. There is a retainer 9 for the spool 7 on the axle 8.

There is a wire speed adjustment assembly 12 on the outside surface ofthe wrap around side wall 5 which controls the speed of any wire 15(shown in phantom in FIG. 1) being unspooled from the spool 7.

There is a fastener 13 for the front door and two belt loop rings 14 forattachment to a workman's belt. This allows the workman to handle thedevice 1 and its wire without having to use his hands.

There is an in-line guide wheel 16 that gathers the wire 15 as it movesfrom the spool 7 and guides it into the drive wheels 17 and the idlerwheels 18 in the drive wheel housing 19. There is a bushing 20 in thefront wall 21 of the drive wheel housing 19 that accommodates theefficient transport of the wire 14 to the drive wheels 17 and the idlerwheels 18. There is also a bushing 22 in the back wall 23 of the housing19 to accommodate the transport of the wire 15 out of the back of thedevice 1.

The guide wheel 16 has rotatably attached to the axle 25, a brake 26,which extends to the edge surface of the spool 7 and provides a brakingor snubbing action on the spool 7 such that the wire 15 does not unwindand snarl. The brake 25 has a tensioning device 27, which is comprisedof a spring 28 that is attached to the brake 25 and the opposite end isattached to the wrap around side 2.

Turning now to FIGS. 2 and 3, which are respectively, a full wraparoundback side of the device 1 and a full wraparound front side view of thedevice 1, there is shown housing 2, the front 3, the back 4, the wraparound side 5, the hinges 6, the spool 7, the axle assembly 8, theretainer 9 for the spool 7, guide pins 10 for the spool 7, wire spoolspeed control 12, the fastener 13 for the front 3, the belt loop ring14, the wire 15, the guide wheel 16, the idler wheels 18, the drivewheel housing 19, the bushing 22, in the back wall 23 of housing 19, andin addition, there is shown the motor 29 which drives the drive wheels17. The designation 30 denotes a drive wheel tensioning device thatallows for tensioning the drive wheels 17.

Shown in FIG. 1 is a portion of the power and gas supply assembly 31that goes to the welding gun (not shown). This supply assembly containsthe electrical power for the gun and also the inert gas supply that isrequired on such guns. The inert gases usually consist of a gas selectedfrom the group consisting of argon, helium, and carbon dioxide.

The drive wheels 17 pull the wire 15 from the spool 7 and feed itthrough the idler wheels 18 and then through the bushing 22 and thenceinto the back end of a gun equipped to weld the wire into grooves andseams for work product to be welded.

1. A wire handling facilitator, said wire handling facilitatorcomprising: a. a housing having a front, a back, and a central wraparound side wall joining the back; b. said front being a hinged door; c.located and supported within the housing, a spool, said spool having acentered first axle having a distal end and a near end, said first axlebeing supported at said distal end by attachment to an inside back wallsurface, said near end having detachedly attached thereto, a spoolretainer; d. an alignment wheel mounted on a second axle, a distal endof said second axle being fixedly attached to said inside back wallsurface; e. a brake pedal having a near end and a distal end, said nearend having a first opening therein, said brake pedal being mounted onsaid second axle through said first opening, there being a secondopening near said near end of said brake pedal, said second openinghaving a near end of a tension spring detachedly attached thereto, theopposite end of said tension spring being detachedly attached to saidwire handling facilitator housing nearby; f. said alignment wheel beingaligned to receive a wire from said spool in an outer groove of saidalignment wheel; g. a wire drive puller and driver, said wire drivepuller and driver comprised of a housing having a front wall and a backwall, there being a first opening in said front wall and a secondopening in said back wall, each of said first opening and said secondopening having a guide bushing inserted therein; h. there being a set oftwo drive rollers each having a centered axle, and an outsidecircumference, said set of drive rollers being vertically aligned withsaid alignment wheel and said drive rollers being vertically alignedwith each other, said drive rollers in close proximity to each other atsaid respective outside circumferences, there being a means ofcontrolling said drive roller tensions; i. there being a set of twoidler rollers each having a centered axle and an outside circumference,said set of idler rollers being aligned with said alignment wheel andvertically aligned with each other, said idler rollers being in closeproximity to each other at said outside circumferences; j. there being ameans of controlling the speed of rotation of said drive rollers; k.there being a drive motor attached to said drive rollers for poweringand driving said drive rollers.
 2. A wire handling facilitator asclaimed in claim 1 wherein, in addition, said wire handling facilitatorhas a means for attaching a carrier strap.
 3. A wire handlingfacilitator as claimed in claim 1 wherein, in addition, said spoolcontains wire.
 4. In combination, a wire handling facilitator as claimedin claim 1 and a wire welding torch for receiving said wire.